As far as I know a personal statement doesn't have a set out structure, but a covering letter has a very strict structure.

You can find examples on google, but basically you have four paragraphs,
1:with a summary of what you have done and your key skills,
2: Talk about the univerisity/institution what you know about them and why you want to work for them. 
3: This is specific to the project/job and why you're perfect for the job, your relevant skills show your enthusiasm etc
4: A summary paragraph where you really push the reasons you are applying and why you are good for the job.

Obviously you can change it around a bit to tailor to specifics but that is the standard and what is needed for most job/PhD applications. For jobs you are told to try to keep it to a page, but for PhD's or more research type jobs they usually allow two pages.

As for the CV for a PhD again check examples on google, but have a skills section highlighting relevant skills, science skills, computing skills etc and give brief examples where you've learned these, and under the education part list all relevant courses and your dissertation. The rest should be the same as a standard CV really.

Hope that helps a little! I'm always helping friends with CV writing so I'm happy to give any more advice if needed!

Hi Dwro8ea, you should always try and show enthusiasm through your cover letters, the CV is for the dry 'this is what I have done' stuff and the cover letter is for explaining gaps in employment, highlighting relevant skills and showing your enthusiasm and drive for the subject! It is really important to tailor each cover letter to each different application form. Have you applied to Cambridge yet? I would find it intimidating too, but then I think everyone would! If it is your chosen subject and you know about it you have nothing to fear though! Most people will apply there just to say they went to Cambridge, but you would be applying because of your passion and if that shines through in your application the supervisors would be crazy not to interview you!

Good luck!

I think it depends on what discipline you're in, I know several people who went straight from undergrad to PhD in the Biosciences, but it's less common in the environmental sciences are there are so many applicants. But you have an interview so they want to see you which is good, make sure you know the project background for the interview, be as confident as you possibly can about your skills and be really enthusiastic about wanting to submit publications and go to conferences etc.

There was a thread just a few days ago which was similar where someone I think Elmo? said they had applied for something like 13 PhD's before getting one, so don't give up if this one doesn't go as you hope, it's a tough market but it's possible!

Good luck!

Some good advice there thanks!  Although I'm not based at a uni, my uni will be 90 miles away as I'm based at a research centre, i've had a look for local clubs but most aren't my cup of tea! I thought about the local hill walking club but I looked at their photos online and I think I would be the youngest member by about 30 years.  Hopefully I'll find something once I get there.

Also it's a science PhD I'm doing so would have to stay in the area to do all the field/lab work, plus I'm awful at working at home, hence why my part time MSc has taken me so long! I'll survive though, it's all an adventure! 

Sorry for hijacking your thread Elmo! And I'm sure QMUL will have loads of clubs etc you can join! Plus you're in such a good place to find clubs etc outside of the uni, maybe think about volunteering once a week, there are things like green gyms, helping in the community etc that will be sure to introduce you to loads of people. =)

Hi Elmo, I have the same problem as you, I'm moving 500 miles away from friends, family and my partner to start a PhD at a research institute which is in a smallish town, it only has around 10 other PhD students and is 12 miles away from the nearest big towns and cities! So I have no words of advice yet but you're not alone at least!

Don't panic about science moving on without you, it's only been a year. It's been four years since I graduated from my BSc and I'm just about to start a PhD this October. I have been doing a part time MSc gradually over the last 3 years while working full time but it was in a different, slower moving topic so I wouldn't know much anyway! Plus a PhD is specialised, you're not expected to know everything that's happening in all of science, you're just expected to know your specialist subject well, and that's after you start it.

I would think about working to save money for an MSc if you apply for a few PhD's and don't get them. As it is really competitive at the moment, I think most people are applying for 5-6 PhD's at least.

Also try getting some relevant experience, even just volunteering once a week in whatever your specialism is or something similar that will give any kind of scientific work experience. Although as others have said you can use any work experience to show you have various skills, even working in a supermarket, it shows you have determination to do whatever is needed at the time, a very good skill indeed!

Good luck with applications!

Hi Miahoney,

I would start looking for PhD's on the findaphd website as soon as you can, just keep an eye on the website or register for them to send you any Chemistry PhD's to your email.  Projects starting next year could be advertised any time from now to next summer so best to keep in the loop about it! I'm about to start my PhD in October but mine was advertised last December so that's quite a big gap in time! 

What else is confusing you? It is really confusing, I found it like a secret language when I started looking for PhD's!  The applications are different for the different Universities, some basically ask for a CV and a cover letter, some are just a chat with a supervisor and some have big complicated application forms but the advertisements will tell you what is needed for each project or will give you the contact details of someone who will tell you.

Of course if you are interested in making up your own project that is a different process all together - finding a potential supervisor, discussing an idea, working out where to get funding (if you are not self-funding), submitting lots of forms etc etc.

Good luck, once you start reading about project and read through the posts on this website it all starts to become clearer!

=)

Hi Pineapple, I don't usually post much on here regarding PhD stuff as I have yet to start mine!  But I've spent the last five years in and out of the job market due to taking on temporary contracts although mostly in really good jobs that are just not made permanent due to this recession business!

However I just wanted to say that if people think you are over qualified already why go for another doctorate? I can't imagine having two doctorates is looked on favourably by most if any potential employers, it just makes you look undecided, especially with two MSc's and a PGcert as well, it just makes it look as though you have no idea what you really want to do.  Although you obviously do know what you want, perhaps this won't come across?

I'm not trying to be derogatory here, obviously you are an intelligent, hard working focussed individual. It's just the job market is very different now than even 2010, the average time people have to look for jobs is probably at least double what it was then. 

In these hard times most people need to take jobs that are 'below' them, I had to take a supermarket job for six months after working for over a year in a fantastic job earning good money, and it was hard as I was serving people I went to school or uni with but it's just what was needed to survive. I then got another much better an related to my degree job (again temp) but it took me nine months between leaving the last good job and getting the next!  In fact it took over two months for me just to get the supermarket job while applying for at least ten jobs a day!

Just have a good think about what you really want, what will really help in the long-run, you might need to hide some qualifications to get a job, but then just think about it as you're riding out the recession until something better comes along.  

I think you should talk to the lecturer who set the project and discuss with them what the question(s) should be. Perhaps they want you to do reading around the subject and come up with your own questions?

I'm not a computer scientist so I can't help any further, sorry!

The Fragility and Conservation of the World's Coastal Dunes: Geomorphological, Ecological and Socioeconomic Perspectives
M. Martínez, M. Maun and N. Psuty

http://www.springerlink.com/content/u7j11w338m72p7m0/

If you have access to this I will be your best friend forever :)

Hi Zak, if you do a search for previous threads there is loads of good interview advice on this forum, I asked for advice for my interview too! But basically just know your stuff, act confident about your subject and relax. If you're self funding it sounds as though interviews are less formal, so it may just be like you having a chat with the supervisor(s) so just make sure you know their work and you have read around your own proposal (I'm guessing you have done this already anyway!).

Good luck I'm sure you'll be fine :)

I used to use firefox all the time after discovering you didn't have to use IE all the time! But it started crashing on my almost every hour, although I usually have a few tabs open at once. So I started using Google Chrome and never looked back, it's so much easier to use! And it very rarely has any hiccups. Although the newest version works fine but looks rather odd, so I might be a browser slut and change again haha.

I don't think I understand you question fully.  What do you mean by the fee required?

The minimum requirement for a PhD is a 2:1 at bachelors level, so if you have that you could theoretically get a PhD although getting funding may be more difficult now without a masters, but it is possible. If you have any relevant work experience that can go in your favour. 

I too am from Scotland and so have had a free undergrad degree, which I was incredibly grateful for!  However even with that, living with parents (I did pay them rent) and working 20 hours a week I still got £6000 in debt just trying to pay my way (and that was with passing on most nights out and wearing the same clothes all through uni)! I then paid for my own MSc which ended up costing over £10,000 as it was part time while I worked full time over three years and there was a lot of travelling involved.  Although I am not complaining as I know so many people have it so much worse!

I have now been offered a funded PhD and I am incredibly grateful for that, but I do think of it as I'll be earning the money. Yes it's training, but in a different way to undergraduate and masters degrees where you're just repeating and regurgitating taught subjects.  PhD students are doing hard work to find out something new, and if a research assistant were doing that work they would be getting paid twice as much. So it's a good deal for the government and the student :-)

I think it would depend what type of land you're putting it on.  I'm guessing you will already have permissions from land owners or public bodies etc to put your equipment onto the land?

If it's a heavily used site i.e. a public nature reserve or near a footpath I think there will be risks for theft or vandalism either way.  Perhaps attempt to hide it but put a note on the equipment explaining what it is so that if people come across it they will be less likely to move it? As long as you know where it is so you can find it again
:p